European League 2010

Pool A: Spain, Romania, Great Britain, Slovakia
Pool B: Turkey, Austria, Greece, Portugal

Final of the 2010 European League will be held in Spain (Guadalajara).

Quote from charalampos

4.6.10
Spain-Romania
Austria-Grecce

Romania opens with a win in Spain statistics photo gallery
Romania beat Spain 1:3 (18-25, 25-21, 21-25, 27-29) in the opening match of the 2010 CEV European League in Pool A. The Romanians presented a firmer performance and took a victory that helped the squad trained by Stelian Moculescu to erase the six defeats in the last European Championship qualification tournaments and take the provisional lead of group A.
Two renovated teams faced each other in the first match of 2010 CEV European League played in Valladolid. The nervousness of the start pinched the performance of both squads in the first bars of the match, in a game characterized by many mistakes more than by positive hits. The Romanian players were the first to settle and took the lead of the match, through the spikes of Laurentiu Lica. The attacks of the wing player and the blocks enabled Romania to win the first set 18-25. Spain recovered after this first set and regained the leadership of the match through the spikes of Juan Carlos Barcala. Romania maintained its status in the set but could not avoid losing 25-21. However, Romania took use of its bigger experience and a better team work to take a step forward towards the final victory. Dan Borota cooperated with Lica in order to impose the command of the visiting squad that eventually would provide them with the third set at 21-25.
The Spanish ability to come from behind was not effective enough and the locals could not avoid seeing how Romania took advantage very early in the fourth set. Head coach Julio Velasco tried to alter the situation by using bench players Vicente Ferrandez and Jose Javier Subiela and Spain starred in a surprising comeback by the end of the set, when the victory of Romania seemed clear. However, Romania was more inspired and in the final exchange of points, the players trained by Stelian Moculescu had luck on their side and put the 27-29 that meant 1-3 and the final victory.
“We played with a lot of mistakes, with a lot of insecurity; we never played more than three good points in a row and I think we lacked of security and clarity. It is difficult to make an evaluation when we make so many mistakes. I hope we can correct this for tomorrow”, said Spain’s head coach Julio Velasco.

Austria starts with major sensation against Greece statistics photo gallery
The Austrian national team started tonight the 2010 CEV European League with a major sensation. The local team defeated Greece 3:2 (18-25, 26-24, 22-25, 25-17, 15-11) completing an impressive comeback after having trailed 1:2 sets.
The game started out with some advantage on the Greek side. The Austrians weren’t able to show their usual strength in their reception and attacks, but kept a tight game. Towards the end of the first set the Greek national team was able to extend its lead and won the first set 18-25. The second set started out just like the first one, but Thomas Zass was able to tie the score. It was a close game, where the Greek team was able to hold the lead. The Austrian team though was able to improve their receptions and attacks from the first set. Marcus Guttmann from Austria was able to make the leading point at 19:18, but Gordon Mayforth’s team made three points in a row to take over the lead at 21:19. The Austrians were able to fight back and finished the second set in their favor at 26-24. With a very confident start in the third set the Austrians took over the lead up to 9:5. The Greeks were able to catch up and tie the score at 10:10 but the Austrians were able to keep up well. In the end the Greek national team was able to win the set 25-22. In the fourth set the Austrians had a heard start of 7 points at 21:14. They clearly won the set 25-17. The fifth set was a close call. In the end the Austrians were able to win the last section of the game at 15-11. Zass and Schneider stood out tonight as Austria’s best scorers with 24 points each, while Nikos Roumeliotis topped the count for Greece with 26.
Michael Warm, head coach of the Austrian team said after the game: “We’ve won six games in a row now. If we keep going on like this we’re the favorite in the European Championships (laughs). I’m very positively surprised, as the Greek team was the favorite. The team, especially the setter Oliver Binder, played very well”. Daniel Gavan, captain of the Austrians: “This was a great start in the European League. I’m very surprised that we beat the Greek team in our first game”.
Greece’s coach Gordon Mayforth: “The Austrians won the match with their serve”. Greek captain Nikolaos Roumeliotis concluded: “I think my team was a bit tired from the qualification games to the European Championship. We’re the better team, but we also need to prove it on the playing field”.

Quote from charalampos

5.6.10
Turkey-Portugal
Austria-Greece
Spain-Romania
Great Britain-Slovakia

Portugal claims first victory in Ankara statistics photo gallery
Turkey vs. Portugal 1:3 (34-32, 21-25, 23-25, 26-28 )
After having topped the charts in Pool F for the 2nd round of the 2011 CEV European Championships, Portugal opened its campaign in the European League with a 3:1 victory against Turkey at the majestic Baskent sports hall in Ankara. About 2’000 fans were to be seen there, most of them waving a Turkish fag and hence creating a splendid atmosphere in the hall.
Turkey started the match slightly better than Portugal leading 8:4 at the first technical time-out. The guests performed some great attacks but the Turks did not want to give up in front of their excited fans. Even though Portugal fought bravely to be back into the game, Turkey was still leading the way at the second technical break (16:13). After that Portugal finally found the right tempo and impressed with some mighty actions. The end of the first set was very contentious, but finally Turkey prevailed at 34-32. Turkey opened very well also the second set (8:5), with Ahmet Pezuk on fire. The local heroes really delighted their fans in the mid section of that set to stay in front also at the second technical break (16:12). However, things quickly turned around and in spite of the many efforts – especially from Burutay – Turkey could not keep up with such a good play and Portugal claimed the second set 25-21. Set nr 3 started very close, Sinan Cem Tanik stood out among the Turks and the score stayed extremely tight up to the second technical break (16:15 for Turkey). Teams continued to trail point for point and even though the spectators were loudly cheering for Turkey, Portugal finally stretched the lead to a provisional 1:2 in the set count. The fourth set proposed a real duel on court featuring Ahmet Pezuk for Turkey and Valdir Sequeira for Portugal. After the first technical time-out (8:7 for Portugal) Turkey performed extremely well in blocking and stayed tuned. After a tie at 23 and a real battle, Portugal was able to celebrate a happy end in this opening game of the 2010 CEV European League with a close 28-26.

No second sensation for Austrian national team statistics photo gallery
After the splendid victory in their opening game, the Austrians could not celebrate their second success in the 2010 CEV European League this Saturday. After their great victory on Friday, Daniel Gavan & Co. were defeated in three sets (19-25, 23-25, 17-25) in their second match against Greece.
A tribute to one of the Austrians players, Philip Schneider, for his 100th cap with the Austrian national team was organized right before the start of the match.
In comparison with the first game, the Austrians had a better start into the first set. The Greek national team though, taking revenge for their defeat the day before, fought back and could rely on their very strong receptions. Headed by their captain Nikolaos Roumeliotis, the favorites won the first set 25-19. The second set was a very close call: the Austrian players, with a large group of Austrian fans in their backs always had a slight lead. The Greek team fought back though, was able to keep up and took over the lead in the final stage of the second set. The Austrians proved their strong nerves and took over the lead with 20-18. In the end, the Greek team put the Austrians under pressure with their strong serves and the Austrians lost the set 23-25.
In the third set the Austrians were behind most of the time. At the second technical time-out the Austrians were behind by 4 points, but kept on fighting supported by their numerous fans. In the end their attempts were in vain. The Greek team won the set 25-17 and the match 3:0.
Top scorers of the match were Zass (9), Schneider (8 ), Frühbauer and Gavan (7) for Austria, Roumeliotis (15) and Andreadis (10) for Greece.
Michael Warm, head coach of Austria, said after the game: “We were brought back to reality today and that’s ok. We had to go to our limits on Friday to keep up with the Greeks and today they were simply better. We have to keep up our hard work”.
Austrian player Philip Schneider: “Despite our defeat today we had a good start into the CEV European League. After all the Greek team is very strong”. Gordon Mayforth, head coach of Greece: “We played better today and reached our goal for the day”.
Captain Nikolaos Roumeliotis: “We showed a better performance today than yesterday. We took the game more serious because we want to be the best team of this group. Since we lost the first game we have to win all upcoming games which will be difficult”.

Romania scores second victory on Spanish soil statistics photo gallery
Romania beat Spain 2:3 (22-25, 23-25, 25-18, 26-24, 10-15) in the second match of the first leg of the 2010 CEV European League in Valladolid. The match had two very different parts, as the first two sets were fully controlled by Romania, and the following two sets were in the hand of the Spaniards. The match had to be solved in a disputed tie-break.
The match played in the Pisuerga sports hall in Valladolid started as a continuation of yesterday’s game in which the attacks and blocks of the Romanians gave the victory to the visiting squad. In the clash on Saturday, Spain tried to alter the situation putting the effort in giving attacking options to Fran Ruiz, but the blocks and spikes of Laurentiu Lica put Romania in the lead (22-25). Despite the attempts of the Spaniards to find their way in the game, Romania offered more consistency and also led in the second set. The attacks of Lica and the blocks of Radu Began established a pattern of playing that was too much to handle for Spain (23-25).
However, the Spaniards recovered their power in the third set. Fran Ruiz led the Spanish come-back, thanks to his spectacular spikes, and the locals were able to erase the mistakes made in the previous sets to overcome their rivals’ opposition and win the set 25-18.
The true star in the fourth set was Jose Javier Subiela. The middle blocker came from the bench to cast an outstanding performance in attack and block (8 points and 4 blocks in this set) that gave Spain the opportunity to win the set and force the tie-break. In the tie-break, Romania took an early lead through the attacks of Lica. The visiting squad maintained a difference of 2-3 points that Spain could not overcome. The final 10-15 gave Romania its second victory in the 2010 CEV European League.

Slovakia draws first blood in Sheffield statistics photo gallery
Great Britain vs. Slovakia 1:3 (23-25, 25-19, 23-25, 23-25)
The 2008 champions of Slovakia opened their European League campaign as they edged out Great Britain at the English Institute of Sport in Sheffield. There was little to choose between the teams - the overall points tally was equal - but Slovakia held their nerve at crucial points in the match.
GB started with back-up setter Kieran O’Malley and had control of the early part of the first set. Left-hander Milan Bencz gave Slovakia a brief lead with a powerful crosscourt hit but GB came back to level at 3:3. With Andy Benson serving - including an ace and a couple of big blocks from Andy Pink - GB reeled off the next six points to lead 9:3. GB served tough and blocked solidly as Slovakia’s back court struggled to get into the groove. But Slovakia powered their way back into it. Miroslav Jakubov placed a couple of spikes expertly down the line before GB made three successive hitting errors as the set was tied at 13:13. Slovakia moved ahead for only the second time in the set when captain Lukas Divis smashed the ball to the floor from position four. Great Britain came back and Mark Plotyczer’s hit took a touch before going out of court, forcing the referee to overturn his original ruling as GB led 22:21. Plotyczer then wiped one off the block to make it 23:22 but then Jason Haldane was long with successive hits to hand Slovakia back the initiative which they seized to take the set 25-23.
Slovakia served inconsistently at the start of the second set but nevertheless had enough weapons to lead 6:3. GB closed it to 6:8 at the first technical time-out and then leveled at 8:8 with Haldane swiping one off the block. Jakubov was then denied on three successive points as GB led 11:8 and it put them in control of the set. The closest Slovakia came was 12:13 but then Haldane stepped up a gear to score three unanswered points - one from a service ace - to keep some breathing space.
Martin Sopko was a constant threat on the outside but it was two hitting errors deep in the set - one from Divs and then, on set point, from Bencz that gave GB the set 25-19.
Slovakia, with some accurate hitting from Bencz who at one stage contributed four consecutive points, stormed into a 14:9 lead in the third set and at 11:16, GB coach brought back setter Ben Pipes, who had played only briefly in the first two sets, and the explosive Dami Bakare. The changes worked as GB led 19:18 and 20:19 after Slovakia struggled to deal with McGivern’s deceptive serving and with Bakare finding the floor. The hosts led 23:22 when Milan Hrinak served long but Slovakia kept their nerve at the end of the set. Divis leveled the scores and then the Slovakian block resisted Joel Miller to give them set point. As in the first set, they took the first chance with Jozef Piovarci scoring through the middle for the final 25-23.
Slovakia led 8:5 at the first technical time-out of the fourth set with GB toiling to control Bencz and GB coach Harry Brokking was forced into a time-out at 7:11after another astute hit by Divis. Bencz took it to 14-9 before serving in to the net to give GB a glimmer of hope. Miller served an ace, courtesy of a net cord, and it looked as if GB’s luck had turned. They closed it to 13:15 and 14:16 but Bencz was on fire and he made it 14:18 prompting another Brokking time-out. But Emanuele Zanini then had to call a time-out as GB took the next two points to close it to two again. Bencz was then blocked by Benson as GB leveled at 18:18 as Slovakia called another hasty time-out. GB twice led late in the set but then some strong serving from Jakubov put GB under pressure. Divis gave Slovakia their first match point and, although GB resisted once, Jakubov provided the decisive block as Slovakia closed out the set 25-23 to take the match.
Slovakian coach Zanini stated: “I am satisfied with the result but not with the play. I know it was difficult for my players because we changed a lot of situations during the match. For the young players it is important to take experience but they need to fight to achieve things, I can’t give them that. It was very close but we are satisfied to start a new competition with a new team and win”.
Divis, the Slovakian captain, said: “We started with a new team and it was a big step to win against GB. We were nervous and made stupid mistakes at times but we managed to get the win. I hope it‘s not as close tomorrow”.
GB captain Pipes said: “It was a tough game for us today. I’d have been happier with a win or even five sets as the more time we can get against these teams, the better. I think there was the sign of things to come from our team. We‘ve had two weeks of intense matches against good teams and we‘ve proved ourselves so now we have to continue to get better. It was so close, it is devastatingly frustrating but we have the fighting spirit”.
Head coach Brokking added: “The good thing is that they had to fight for the win and we didn’t give them it. It’s disappointing and frustrating to lose three sets to 23 and I’ve a feeling we made the mistakes ourselves at the end of the sets. But we have come so far and we can only turn this around by getting into those situations. The moment is close, it can be tomorrow”.

Quote from charalampos

6.6.10
Great Britain-Slovakia
Turkey-Portugal

GB guys power back to stun Slovakia statistics photo gallery
Great Britain vs. Slovakia 3:0 (25-23, 25-21, 25-22)
Great Britain rose to new heights to gain their first win in Pool A of the European League at the English Institute of Sport in Sheffield by overturning Slovakia in straight sets. Coach Harry Brokking always believes his team was capable of stepping up after fully extending Slovakia on Saturday and his players did not let him down with a focused display. At the end of each set, GB’s nerve was tested but it stood firm and Brokking will hope his team can mount a serious challenge in the competition.
Milan Bencz gave Slovakia a brief 1:0 lead at the start of the first set but GB served tough and blocked solidly to take control and led 8:5 at the first technical time-out on a rotation fault by Slovakia. Two successive hitting errors from the explosive Martin Sopko pushed GB 11:6 ahead. Slovakia was finding it difficult to silence Jason Haldane who consistently found the way past the block and, at 18:11, GB looked in full control. But Slovakia kept chipping away at the lead and GB coach Harry Brokking was forced into two time-outs late in the set at 21:18 and 23:21. Slovakia came within a point after a service ace from Bencz to make it 23:22 but he was long with his next serve, giving GB set point. Andrew Pink then served into the net to keep Slovakia alive but Mark Plotyczer powered in the clinching point as GB took the set 25-23.
GB stuck to the task in the second set and matched Slovakia point for point but the left-handed Bencz remained a threat with his hitting down the line. Miroslav Jakubov was blocked by Mark McGivern and Kieran O’Malley as GB forged a 6:5 lead and it was 8:7 at the technical time-out with McGivern producing the goods through the middle after the short set from O’Malley. Slovakian captain Lukas Divis, as in Saturday’s match, showed astute shot selection, to keep his team on course. But GB moved to 11:9 after a fantastic pick-up by Plotyczer kept the rally alive and Andy Benson produced a massive block through the middle to seal the point. Slovakian coach Emauele Zanini called his first time-out of the set with GB leading 12:9. Pink and Haldane were finding the corners of the court with some accurate hitting and, while Bencz came up with two big points midway through the set, GB remained in control at the second technical timeout (16:12). GB somehow salvaged a lost cause as they scrambled around to win a huge point after two remarkable pick-ups and Plotyczer had the crowd on their feet as he finished off the point with a mammoth block to put his team 19:16 ahead. It was a huge psychological blow to Slovakia and Plotyczer produced another significant block on Divis to maintain GB’s three-point advantage. In a tense climax to the set, both sets of players looked over-eager to nail it. Tomas Krisko and Bencz both served into the net for Slovakia but Haldane and Joel Miller returned the favor from the service-line. Slovakia saved one set point after McGivern had taken GB to the brink with a power hit through the middle but the service errors continued and Jozef Piovarci served into the net to give GB the set 25-21.
GB did not lose their focus at the start of the third set - a block by Benson giving them the early point and Pink producing some great work in the back court. Sopko gave two big reminders that Slovakia was still in touch as he blasted through the GB block but their service game was inconsistent with Bencz and Divis both serving into the net as GB led 8:6 at the technical time-out. Twice Slovakia closed to within a point before Divis served long as GB opened out to 15:13 but that man Sopko displayed great accuracy to cut the lead again before a wild hit from Plotyczer leveled the scores at 15:15. But GB stood tall and successive blocks from Benson through the middle put the home team 19:16 in front and within sight of a famous victory. At 21:18, Haldane hit into the net and then found himself blocked by Piovarci as Slovakia closed to within a point, prompting a Brokking time-out. Tensions were high as Dami Bakare hit inches out of court to make the score 22:22 but a handling error from Divis gave GB the lead and Sopko hit marginally out and then hit into the net on match point as GB sealed it 25-22.
A delighted GB coach Brokking said: “I am happy with the win. At the critical moments, our young players made mistakes in the first match but we went to the experienced players today. My players now have experience of playing in Europe and that has helped us. The link between the setter (O’Malley) and Haldane is good and that is the reason he is on court. We made a step today. I always compare it to the Super Mario game - to get to the next level you have to learn a new trick. It takes more to get to the next level. We’re now learning to win important sets and that is the part of the development of the team and now we have to win more matches”.
Slovakian coach Zanini admitted: “GB played on a higher level and they immediately put pressure on our service reception and we had big problems in the first set. I’m not satisfied with the performance of my players because I think we lost the chance for some of my young players to show they have character and can react. After this match I know a little bit more about my young players and also my experienced players, some players who just a week ago had incredible power in their spike and service. It’s in the mind of the players”.
GB captain Ben Pipes outlined: “Over the last three weeks we’ve been yearning for the victory. For me everyone put their hearts into it - you saw the guys crashing through the table and crashing through the advertising boards and we got the victory we deserved. When you get four out of five of those balls, suddenly the guys are standing tall and feeling good and we won a lot of those rallies. You feel invincible if the opposition cannot put the ball on the floor and that reflects on your block - we’re now a strong blocking side and there’s still room for improvement”.
Slovakian captain Divis added: “It was a big difference today. The GB team made good side-outs and put big pressure on our service. It was difficult for us to make a side-out - everything was worse than yesterday and we didn’t serve well”.

Portugal completes perfect weekend in Ankara statistics photo gallery
Portugal scored a second straight victory this afternoon at the Baskent sports hall in Ankara cruising past the local guys of Turkey in three sets. The hosts really wanted to go for revenge after yesterday’s defeat and they actually started pretty well with provisional eads at 5:2 and 8:6.
However, Portugal did not agree with that scenario and wanted to travel back home with another victory on their bag. The Portuguese guys took a lot of risks from the serving line and committed some errors. Turkey maintained a slim margin (16:13) at the second technical break and even widened that gap (23:19) forcing Portuguese coach Diaz in to a time-out. After this interruption, Portugal played very well, turned the score around and eventually claimed the first set 29-27.
The guests extended their solid performance also to the opening of the second set, leading 8:6 at the first mandatory stop. Turkey tried to bounce back with some attacks of Burutay Subasi but it was not enough (16:12 for Portugal). Croatian-born coach Veljko Basic took his second time-out at 20:14 for Portugal but could not stop the beautiful run of the Lusitans who squeezed in at 25-21.
The Turks lost their fighting spirit and could not find the right inspiration from their fans (due to bad weather conditions the audience in Ankara was not that massive as on Saturday). Portugal set the tone for the first technical break (8:5) but Turkey finally woke up and tried a late comeback. Serhat Coskun helped his team pretty much but it was not enough to catch up in the score. Portugal sailed away again and completed a perfect weekend with a second victory, this time in three straight sets.

Pool A
Spain - Romania 1:3 (18:25 25:21 21:25 27:29)
Spain - Romania 2:3 (22:25 23:25 25:18 26:24 10:15)
Great Britain - Slovakia 1:3 (23:25 25:19 23:25 23:25)
Great Britain - Slovakia 3:0 (25:23 25:21 25:22)
1. Romania 4
2. Great Britain 3
3. Slovakia 3
4. Spain 2

Pool B
Turkey - Portugal 1:3 (34:32 21:25 23:25 26:28 )
Turkey - Portugal 0:3 (27:29 21:25 20:25)
Austria - Greece 3:2 (18:25 26:24 22:25 25:17 15:11)
Austria - Greece 0:3 (19:25 23:25 17:25)
1. Portugal 4
2. Greece 3
3. Austria 3
4. Turkey 2